Education Commons^™

Village Girls’ Schooling Matters: Attainment, Empowerment Capabilities & Achievement, Vilma Seeberg, Shujuan Luo

Vilma Seeberg

This paper explores the relationship between village girls’ schooling, their intrinsic capabilities and achieved re-gendered identities in western China during the tumultuous first decade of the 21st century. Using an empowerment-capability framework developed by Seeberg (Seeberg and Lou 2012 forthcoming) which focuses Sen’s capability approach on rural girls schooling, we seek to explain what village girls themselves said they got out of schooling. In interviews 23 girls and young women from one village described how they valued certain functionings of well-being, agency and achievement, and how these were associated with attainment levels in schooling. We found that with rising attainment …

Using Video In Contemporary Libraries, Claudia J. Dold

Claudia J. Dold

Video is an ideal tool for reaching many of today’s learners, especially when a process needs to be demonstrated and learned. Users can now access video to “see how it’s done”, offering information in visual and well as aural and textual formats. How-to videos have made inroads into everyday life: on airplanes they teach us how to prepare for take-off, in hardware stores, they demonstrate new attachments for electric tools, and DVDs now accompany products that explain the installation process.

Promoting Cultural Heritage Through Video, Claudia J. Dold

Claudia J. Dold

Cultural heritage is an ephemeral commodity: If it is not preserved, it will disappear. Capturing cultural heritage on video uses current technology that offers exciting opportunities for librarians. They may record, document, and preserve cultural heritage, including the local languages, in their archives.

Reflection On Student Action Research, Genan Anderson, Julie Nelson, Bryan Waite

Genan Anderson

This article is a summary by the authors on the research done by two student teachers of early childhood education, Joelle Fierro and Rachel Probst. These student teachers were concerned about how best to serve the ethnic diversity they would experience as preservice teachers, and they developed creative teaching methods, through reflection, to address the issue. One of the ideas that emerged from their reflection was their very creative use of the Writer’s Workshop to encourage the children to write in their own diverse languages, share translations and stories, and thereby grow in acceptance of, and friendship with, one another …

The Effect Of Dual Language Education On Student Achievement, Alfonsina Rodriguez

Alfonsina Rodriguez

This thesis studies the educational effect of the two-way immersion dual language programs (DLE) in California’s public elementary school system using statewide testing scores as the common measurement tool. The average California Test Standards (CTS) test scores for English language arts (ELA), Mathematics and Science on the California statewide assessment, STAR, for 5th graders in the years 2009-2012, were utilize to compare student achievement for dual language participants to students in similar schools. Similar schools are matched to the participating schools by the state assigned schools ranking.

This study evaluated DLE programs in terms of academic achievement and its effect …

Are Asian Americans Really A Model Minority? A National Look At Endowed Professors Of Education, Nicholas Daniel Hartlep

Nicholas Daniel Hartlep, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Improving Learner Outcomes In Efl: Does Early Instruction Lead To Greater Achievement?, Servet Celik, Bilal Karaca

Servet Celik

Language education curricula and programs worldwide have begun emphasizing foreign language instruction for learners as young as 5-6 years, particularly in English. Yet, while studies have argued for the benefits of early language instruction, the results of this trend in terms of actual achievement are not clear. For this reason, the researchers designed this study to illustrate the connection between age of onset of English as a foreign language (EFL) instruction and learner achievement, examining international language curricula from countries where English is taught as a foreign language beginning at the pre-primary and primary level alongside the corresponding scores on …

Needs Analysis Of English For Specific Purposes (Esp) For The Students Of Business And Economics Faculty (Feb) Unisbank Semarang, Sugeng Purwanto

Sugeng Purwanto

The Study aims at investigating a possible reconstruction of ESP for the students of FEB Unisbank Semarang in anticipation of the needs for English in Asean Economic Community (AEC) Era 2015. Respondents were the faculty officers and ex-officer, ESP lecturers and randomly selected students to justify the proposed ESP under Cambridge Proficiency Level B2. The findings indicate that the majority of respondents expressed positive responses on which to formulate the Competency Standards required of the students in order to professionally survive in the AEC Era. Recommended in the study is to reconstruct the ESP Syllabus and teaching materials.

Dreaming And Surviving In Heterotopia: First-Generation Immigrant Girls’ Pursuit Of The American Dream In New York City, Kaoru Miyazawa

Kaoru Miyazawa

This paper analyzes experiences of first-generation immigrant girls in a newcomer school using Foucault’s notions of heterotopia.

The More She Longs For Home, The Farther Away It Appears: A Paradox Of Nostalgia In A Fulani Immigrant Girl’S Life, Kaoru Miyazawa

Kaoru Miyazawa

Nostalgia, which is derived from the Greek words nos (returning home) and algia (pain), refers to longing for the loss of the familiar (Kaplan, 1987). The loss of our connection to the familiar is a painful experience as such loss is connected to a fundamental loss, the loss of ourselves. By losing a connection to familiar people, objects, and places that continue to remain the same from the past to the future, we also lose the continuity within ourselves. And this discontinuity of our past, present, and future selves creates anxiety within us (Milligan, 2003). The painful experience that accompanies …

A Critical Look At Four Multicultural Reform Efforts In One Urban College Of Education, Mary Gove, Dinah Volk, Kristine Lynn Still, Grace Hui-Chen Huang, Sashelle Thomas-Alexander

Grace H. C. Huang

The article describes multicultural reform projects at an urban college of education including analyses of student's descriptions of their experiences in urban schools, the results of a faculty diversity self-study group and issues arising from culturally responsive pedagogy in an early childhood teaching class. The author's assertion that diversity education is an essential part of teacher education is discussed, and the importance of continuous critical analysis of teacher education is emphasized.

Improving Education Outcomes For African American Youth - Issues For Consideration And Discussion, Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt Bryant, Kisha Bird

Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt Bryant

No abstract provided.

La Valoración Del Habla Bilingüe En Los Estados Unidos: Fundamentos Sociolingüísticos Y Pedagógicos En 'Hablando Bien Se Entiende La Gente', Andrew Lynch, Kim Potowski

Andrew Lynch

Para muchas personas e instituciones, la Academia de la Lengua Española se considera una máxima autoridad en materia de lengua española y ejerce una fuerte influencia en la percepción y apreciación lingüísticas a través del mundo hispánico. La Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española (ANLE), la más nueva de las 22 academias que conforman la Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, puede jugar un papel fundamental en la normalización del español en los Estados Unidos en años venideros, especialmente en los terrenos político e institucional. En este artículo examinamos desde un punto de vista crítico el libro Hablando bien …

Distance Tutoring: Online Writing Center For L2 University Students, J. Elliott Casal, Joseph Lee

Joseph J. Lee

No abstract provided.

Graduating Black Males: A Generic Qualitative Study, Edward Earl Bell

Dr. Edward E. Bell

Black males face a difficult educational battle. Across America, graduation statistics for Black males are sobering. The purpose of this study was to explore why Black males drop out of school and to examine the current employment status of the study participants. The research took place in rural North Carolina. Fifteen Black American male high school dropouts took part in a snowball sample. This study was qualitative and used open and axial coding. Findings from this study may provide guidance and directions for school and community leaders to help Black males stay in school through graduating.

How Should Colleges Ask About Students’ Sexual Orientation?, Tammy R. Johnson

Tammy R. Johnson

In recent years, there has been increasing interest among admission officers regarding the identification of LGBT students on campus. Reliable statistics about LGBT populations on campuses across the country are all but non-existent, and many progressive institutions are aiming to remedy that problem. It is a growing concern: How can schools provide outreach and support (and increase retention rates) for LGBT students if this at-risk population continues to be invisible? Likewise, LGBT campus groups are almost uniformly in favor of collecting reliable data that will document the presence of LGBT students on campus, which would help these groups advocate more …

Redefining Pedagogy: Dialogues On Transformative Immersion, Praxis, And Reflection, William H. Robertson, Judith Munter

William H. Robertson

This article examines transformative teaching and learning in higher education today, with a focus on faculty member as change agent. Developed from fourteen months of ongoing, critical dialogue, the article describes and deconstructs faculty members’ lived experiences as scholars-practitioners in three nations and their corresponding roles in institutions of higher learning in the U.S. As multi-culturally situated practitioners, each one describes the role of diverse international/intercultural lived experiences, including Fulbright exchanges, community based research, and service-learning in and with diverse communities. The voice of an emerging scholar, (graduate student) as discussant is interspersed throughout the dialogue, connecting faculty members’ experiences …

The Globalizing Labor Market In Education: Teachers As Cultural Ambassadors Or Agents Of Institutional Isomorphism?, Kara D. Brown, E. Doyle Stevick

Kara D. Brown

Institutional isomorphists and other proponents of world culture theory argue that schools around the world are converging in many ways, while anthropologists and others question this conclusion, often arguing that local cultural differences belie superficial similarities. These viewpoints are not merely academic explanations of the spread and apparent convergence of education policies and practices around the world, but are often present in policy and practice. The authors seek both to shed new light on these often-entrenched positions and to refocus the debate by considering the presence and influence of such views in the policies and practices of international teacher exchanges. …

Playing With A Robot To Learn English Vocabulary, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

A robot-based English curriculum called The Missing Code has been developed to teach English vocabulary to young children whose home language is one other than English. Guided by theories in children’s learning and motivation, the curriculum was designed to be developmentally appropriate and engaging for children that were 3-5 years old, carefully balancing the familiar and the new. The development process was characterized by iterative cycles of initial design, user testing, and refinement. Through multiple observations of child-robot play in situ, it was noted that children easily learned how to interact with the robot and showed sustained interest and engagement …

Another Look At What Young Children Should Be Learning, Lentera Kecil

Lentera Kecil

Proses pembelajaran pada siswa sekolah dasar, menengah maupun atas, tentunya berbeda. Perlu diperhatikan faktor usia siswa. Untuk tujuan masa depan, orang tua, guru pasti setuju bahwa anak-anak harus belajar mulai dari usia dini. Akan tetapi apa yang harus dipelajari, saat ini, besok, ataupun seterusnya tentunya harapan untuk belajar agar tercapai keinginan anak, orang tua guru banyak faktor yang mempengaruhinya, tidak segampang perkiraan.

Transforming Personal Leadership, Kim Washington-Watson

Kim Washington-Watson

To debrief from your research is vitally important to gain perspective about your own transforming power, self-efficacy, and tools needed to continue to do what you came here to do. I was so immersed in my subjects, their lives, and their ideology, I forgot who I was and what I came there to do. I gained membership from my subjects, got lost in their world, needed their acceptance, and did not know how to let them go. As I reflected upon my own education, career, and where I have come from in order to go forward, truth and admission required …

Ethical Conflicts Experienced By Iranian Efl Teachers In The Classroom Context, Zahra Alimorad

Zahra Alimorad

Recently, EFL teachers’ ethical conflicts in the situated classroom context have got paramount importance. This paper presents findings from an empirical study of ethical conflicts Iranian EFL teachers encounter while engaged in classroom assessment. Critical incidents generated by 49 practicing teachers revealed that a majority of reported conflicts were related to Do No Harm principle. Most of the conflicts they encountered involved basic values as one of the conflicting elements while two new conflicting elements emerged in the specific context of this study. It was concluded that Iranian educational policy might need to be changed to mitigate some of these …

Contrastive Phonological Analysis Of English And Persian: A Case Study Of An Iranian Efl Learner, Zahra Alimorad

Zahra Alimorad

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Language Policy And Planning To Deaf Education, Sarah Compton, Francis M. Hult

Sarah Compton

No abstract provided.

American Sign Language As A Heritage Language, Sarah Compton

Sarah Compton

This chapter considers how American Sign Language (ASL)—a visual-manual language—is a heritage language of deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing people in the United States. Traditionally, heritage language education and maintenance efforts have centered on spoken languages. This chapter aims to broaden the scope to include signed languages. It begins with a historical overview of ASL, explicates for whom ASL is a heritage language, and examines the influence of current policy trends and technological advancements on language shift and language maintenance. Particular attention is drawn to the role of deaf communities in fostering language maintenance despite concerted efforts to restrict …

Investigation Of Cultural Beliefs Of Physical Education Teacher Candidates With Faculty Of Education, Yaprak Kalemoglu Varol, Mustafa Kayihan Erbas

Mustafa Kayihan Erbas

The purpose of this study is to adapt the Turkish version of Teacher's Cultural Beliefs Scale (OCDS) that is developed by Hachfeld et al (2011) that determines the cultural beliefs of teacher candidates, to determine physical education teachers' cultural beliefs and to compare physical education teacher candidates and other teacher candidates in terms of cultural beliefs and in addition, to examine cultural beliefs in terms of gender and grade variables in education. The research group consists of 330 teacher candidates in total that are educated at the faculty of physical education and training. As a data collection tool, OCDC and …

Educational Leadership And Social Justice In The United States, Margaret Grogan

Margaret Grogan

Summary: Principals and superintendents of public schools are under intense pressure to raise the level of student academic achievement. The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) mandated the reporting of student test scores disaggregated by race, socio-economic status, English language proficiency, and participation in special education. The aim of the legislation was to eliminate the test score gap between middle class white students and under-represented minorities. However, too many recent graduates still demonstrate very weak literacy and numeracy skills. They are not likely to lead fulfilling lives. School leaders have a moral imperative to address this injustice. Research shows that …

Rethinking Contemporary Sub-Saharan African School Knowledge: Restoring The Indigenous African Cultures, Edward Shizha

Edward Shizha

Sub-Saharan African countries have been politically independent since the late 1950s but they have not done much to free their school curricular from remnants of colonial education. The current postcolonial African school curriculum ignores the voices, indigenous knowledges (IKs) and cultures of African indigenous populations. Students, in Africa, experience barriers in learning because of the dissonance between the school curriculum and their cultural experiences. What the schools teach, and how teachers disseminate and transmit knowledge does not reflect the cultural symbolic conventions (collaborative and participatory learning) and representations (knowledge constructs, symbols and cultural beliefs) of the students’ cultural experiences. This …

An Exploratory Study Of Undergraduates' Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action Policies For Asian Americans In College, Nicholas Daniel Hartlep, Robert Jay Lowinger

Nicholas Daniel Hartlep, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Using Balanced Literacy For Delivering Culturally Relevant Pedagogy To Prepare Teachers: A 20-Year Perspective On Dreamkeepers, Nicholas Daniel Hartlep, Tatiana D. Joseph

Nicholas Daniel Hartlep, Ph.D.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the teaching practices of two teacher educators who teach at universities in the Midwest. The authors detail the myriad ways in which they use a balanced literacy approach that is culturally relevant in their courses at Illinois State University (Normal, IL) and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Milwaukee, WI), to more effectively prepare PK-12 urban educators. The authors point to the demographic imperative, as shifting demographics continue, the need for highly effective teachers who can teach our nation’s culturally and linguistically diverse PK-12 students becomes ever more critical.